Travel is a luxury for cash-strapped Americans

he Travel Industry Association's (TIA)
fourth-quarter Traveler Sentiment Index shows a slight decline from
the third-quarter results, recording its lowest level since the
beginning of this year and at its second-lowest showing ever.

However, the decline does not come from a lack of consumer
interest in taking a pleasure/vacation trip -- those numbers still
are relatively strong. The faltering index is being driven downward
by a decline in respondents' perceived ability to take a trip,
based upon personal finances and, in smaller part, a decline in
having the free time necessary to travel.

According to the TIA, travel prices have risen by 4.1% overall
since January; air fares have risen 5.2% over the same time period.
This accounts, in some measure, for travelers feeling a pinch in
their wallets. But the index components also speak to another
issue: high unemployment and surging worker productivity.

Americans will be hard-pressed to travel the way they did a
short time ago until the U.S. economy picks up and the nation's
jobless return to work.